In wartime situations, commanders need to have effective and instantaneous communication with their fellow commanders over the battle field. Of course, an important element of such communication is that it should not be prone to being intercepted by the enemy.
Clearly, radio waves can be readily intercepted and depending upon the sophistication of the enemy's code cracking procedures may in some instances be deciphered by the enemy
It is possible to dramatically reduce the likelihood of interception by laying cable such as fibre optic cable to carry the communications. However, as the cable must be laid on the battlefield, the actual act of laying the cable can be quite hazardous. Thus, to reduce the risks involved with cable laying and retrieval, the method of laying the cable should be one which is rapid and efficient, thereby reducing the amount of time personnel laying the cable are exposed to the battlefield hazards.
Thus, this invention seeks to provide cable handling apparatus which can assist in rapid cable laying and/or cable retrieval operations.